The so-called Internet of Things (IoT) opens up the traditional world of highly technical sensor-based systems to wider commerce and into the consumer marketplace. There are almost limitless opportunities for IT companies to provide products and services throughout the IoT ‘value chain’, from innovative tech hardware firms building smaller, cheaper and more functional sensors, through to enterprise-grade ‘big data’ software systems to process and interpret the sensor data, and mobile apps to provide an intuitive ‘user experience’.